Page 36 of Needs Must
He and Ian had never gotten along, but Jonathan’s death had forced them into an uncomfortable alliance. Henry didn’t care. He’d do business with the devil himself if he saw a profit in it. Since Ian had inherited his brother’s estate, it was a sign of his desperation that he’d asked Henry to do his leg work for him. Work that appeared to centre exclusively around Donna.
Big surprise!
Both men had always had her in their sights, but she had treated them in a highhanded manner, only speaking to them when she had to and making Henry feel like the dregs of society. But look at her now. How the mighty had fallen. She was reduced to renting a hovel of a cottage in Arndale but how she intended to support herself was a mystery to Henry. She had left Jamaica with little more than a few clothes and a target on her back.
Word had reached the authorities that Jonathan’s death might not have stemmed from natural causes, but she had scarpered before she could be questioned on the matter. Presumably she would now be obliged to resort to the oldest profession, which meant that she would no longer be in a position to be so selective. The thought of turning the tables on her had Henry salivating in expectation.
He hadn’t believed the rumours about the Earl of Arndale having taken a shine to her. But he’d slipped outside when he saw the earl’s carriage arrive and he’d watched, open-mouthed with envy, when Donna appeared in her finery and was helped into it. No prizes for guessing who the little doxy would be entertaining that evening, he thought bitterly.
He couldn’t decide whether to tell Ian that he’d found her, and found her easily. All it had taken was a bribe or two at Southampton docks to find out where she had gone. Ian could have found her just as easily himself, but he was too busy strutting about Chichester like the cock of the walk, running through his brother’s blunt quicker than sand trickled through a man’s fingers. Ian was fooling no one but enjoyed being feted by those that clung to his coattails, ready to enjoy his hospitality. It was obviously true what they said about fools and their money.
He wished now that he’d broken into Donna’s room when she’d been out that day and looked for the letters. He’d been tempted but decided to bide his time, still uncertain whose side he was actually on. Less certain still why he’d let Donna see him the previous day. That had been stupid, arrogant, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
It was unfortunate that the maid hadn’t gone with Donna because if she had, he could have slipped into their room and conducted his search now. He would still do so regardless of the maid’s presence but for the fact that Donna had found herself a wealthy and influential lover, damn his eyes, and Henry was no fool. He knew better than to make an enemy of such a man. Having allowed her to see him, Donna would know who to blame for any intrusion and Henry wasn’t about to make himself a target on Ian’s behalf.
Or anyone else’s for that matter.
Henry was aware of the rumours about the earl being seen at her cottage but hadn’t believed them. Nevertheless, he’d dropped a few words in the vicar’s ear about her past, thinking it would be enough to cool the earl’s ardour.
Apparently not.
‘Enjoy your assignation, you whore!’ Henry muttered, jealousy cutting through him like a sabre as he returned to the taproom and the attentions of the comely barmaid who had been making eyes at him all day.
Cal was rendered temporarily speechless by the transformation in his guest’s appearance. He’d imagined that she would rise to the challenge but hadn’t expected her to surpass his wildest expectations. She was a lady to her fingertips. He had realised that much when meeting her for the first time and she had been dressed in a dowdy gown. Now the entire world would be able to see it too, and no one in his drawing room would have any reason to look down at her.
‘I almost did not,’ she said as they walked up the steps.
‘Did not what?’ he asked.
‘Come tonight. You did not give me an opportunity to decline, but I suspect that was deliberate.’
‘Then why did you come?’
She smiled. ‘Miriam bullied me into it. You realise, I suppose, that everyone in the Ship’staproom saw me enter your carriage. It was hardly low profile. They will all now suppose that I am your mistress.’
‘If only,’ he replied, rolling his eyes and already enjoying himself enormously. Of course he had known that his carriage would be recognised and the conclusions that would be drawn. It had been deliberate; the only way he could think of to protect her in that den of vipers, even though he’d been well aware that it was a gesture she wouldn’t thank him for.
Needs must.
‘Behave!’ But there was no real bite behind her chastisement. ‘I see you have a roomful of guests, and I shall not know any of them.’
‘I dare say they won’t waste any time in getting to know you. The gentlemen, in any case.’
‘Because I am infamous.’ A small giggle escaped her lips as she removed her cape and handed it to the maid who stepped forward to take it from her. ‘The mysterious female who has taken a lease on a dilapidated and haunted cottage yet is accepted in an earl’s drawing room. No doubt your guests will dine out on exaggerated stories about my lowering the tone of your home for months.’
Cal laughed. ‘What a very lively imagination you have.’
‘I am not one of your green misses, my lord. I understand the ways of the world and how society’s matrons like nothing better than to spread gossip and pretend to be outraged by scandal. And even if there is no gossip to be spread, you can be sure that their imaginations will not let that stand in their way.’
They had reached the open doors to the drawing room, which saved Cal from telling her that her straitened circumstances would not prevent every gentleman in the room from showing an interest in her. And that every female was likely to resent her presence.
All conversation stopped as Cal and Donna’s presence was noticed. Still with her hand on his sleeve, he conducted her to his mother and made the introduction.
‘Welcome, Mrs Harte,’ the dowager said with the minimum of civility as she subjected Donna’s person to a rude and exacting scrutiny.
‘Thank you for inviting me, ma’am,’ Donna replied, with the merest suggestion of a curtsey.
Saul and Arthur were more genuine in their greetings and were rewarded by smiles from Cal’s guest. Jules, predictably, was charming and unaffected in his welcome.
